Cody Bellinger gets MVP as Yankees shine bright in American Leagues All-Star win

PHILADELPHIA — It was a night to celebrate both baseball and the United States, with enough pageantry — including introductions in which players entered through giant Liberty Bells, then signed their names with quills on a lineup scroll styled like the Declaration of Independence, and all before the midgame fireworks display and seventh-inning “Happy Birthday, America” singalong — to make theater directors blush. So it was only appropriate that the stars of the All-Star Game were those Yankees from the north.  Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees.Cody Bellinger and Ben Rice came through with back-to-back, two-out, run-scoring singles to account for three runs in the first inning, supplying the only scoring the American League would need in a 4-0 victory Tuesday at a sold-out, rocking, booing and Red, White and Blue-ing Citizens Bank Park. The pair became the first Yankees teammates to drive in runs in a Midsummer Classic since Roger Maris and Tom Tresh in 1962, according to MLB.

Bellinger was named MVP for driving in two of the game’s four runs on a night the award could have been shared by the American League pitching staff, with 11 pitchers combining for a three-hitter while walking two and striking out 15. For Bellinger — who ripped a two-strike, two-run single against Phillies lefty Cristopher Sánchez — the at-bat encapsulated the type of hitter that the Yankees have known for a season and a half. The 2019 MVP, whose stock had plunged more than dropped since — nontendered by the Dodgers and salary-dumped by the Cubs — returned to the All-Star Game for the first time in seven years, transformed.No longer is he the 47-homer monster he was with the Dodgers.

And no longer is he the .165-hitting shell of himself he was in 2021. What remains is a strong and smart hitter who knows when to try to blast pitches and knows when to shorten up....